This invention relates to a microscope illumination system, and more particularly, to an illumination system capable of providing light for transmitted as well as vertical microscopy techniques utilizing the Kohler method of illumination.
It is an object of the present invention to provide Kohler illumination for standard 4X through 100X objectives.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide transmitted light illumination using objectives of 4X to 100X without using special lenses.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide an illumination system for vertical or transmitted light having lateral color-free imaging of the field iris.
It is another object of the present invention to provide Kohler illumination in the vertical light mode for standard 10X through 100X objectives.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide Kohler illumination in either the vertical or transmitted light modes of a microscope having up to a 24mm field.
Prior art illumination systems frequently required the use of additional lenses commonly referred to as "throw-in" lenses in order to accommodate transmitted light objectives from 4X to 100X. Also, prior art illumination systems for microscopes intended to be used with either vertical or transmitted light illumination, usually required separate sources of illumination.